Elected councillors are required to provide good governance for the benefit of the community. Let’s look at what that means.
The Local Government Act defines the role of a Council as to provide good governance in its municipal district for the benefit and wellbeing of the municipal community.
The Local Government Act defines the municipal community as people who live in, pay rates in, or conduct activities in, the municipal district. This means that that someone working in a local shop, or someone biking through Yarra, has the right to have their opinion be properly considered by council too, alongside people who live in the municipality.
Locals versus non-locals
The Local Government Act does not define ‘locals’ or ‘non-locals’, nor does it say that the views of locals should be given a higher priority that other members of the municipal community. In contrast, a reasonable person would interpret the Act to mean that the views of all members of the municipal community should be treated equally. Unfortunately, the 2024-2028 Yarra Council has not been doing this. Let’s look at some examples.
Richmond Library Park
The 2020-2024 Yarra Council proposed to change the street outside Richmond Library into a small park. Stage 1 consultation showed 68% support, Stage 2 consultation showed 88% support. On 18 June 2024 the 2020-2024 Yarra Council resolved to proceed with the park. So far, so good. The problem is that on 26 November 2024 the 2024-2028 Yarra Council resolved to cancel the park. In our opinion, that resolution failed to provide good governance for the benefit and wellbeing of the municipal community.
Safer Wellington Street
The 2020-2024 Yarra Council proposed to extend the popular and successful safe cycling corridor on Wellington Street, to continue further north up to Queens Parade. The problem is that on 12 May 2026 the the 2024-2028 Yarra Council resolved to cancel the traffic calming, despite the formal community engagement showing 63% support.
Discussion and conclusion
Elected councillors are required to provide good governance for the benefit of the community. When councillors wilfully slice and dice the results from formal community engagement to separate ‘locals’ from ‘non-locals’ they are acting in a manner that’s contradictory to the Local Government Act. That behaviour must stop.